The Hwice Group
Merchants turned Jet dealers and soldiers for hire, the Hwice Group is a rising player in the power struggles of Topeka. They often bring unwanted attention however due to their foothold in the chem trade. Beginning Edward Hwice was a small time merchant for a small settlement who dealt mainly in everyday items; bowls, pots, rope, etc. This might not have changed if not for the arrival of several large swarms of rats. While they didn't eat his wares, they did break them on their search for food. Drinking with a few friends over the loss of his business he began to grow angry. Over the night he drank more and more and began to rant about the rats even more. Finally he walked out of the bar incredibly drunk with a few of his friends following him, all with clubs and knives. Over the course of that night they found every rat''s ''nest and warren in their settlement and killed every rat there was. The next day after they sobered up, the other residents came together and presented them with some money for killing the rats. Seeing that they still didn't have enough to cover their loses, Edward and the others decided to continue to killing rats for easy money, going from town to town and wiping out the pests. Over the course of a decade they worked their way up in terms of pests to where they were killing molerats, giant ants and the occasional radscorpion. Having saved a fair amount of caps over this time, Edward decided to try his hand at being a merchant again. After returning to his hometown however, he saw that no one wanted to buy anything besides Jet, this being in the great jet rush of 2256. Determined to get his money back, Edward tried to make jet himself. After being dragged out of the remains of his lab, he thought it might be safer to hire someone to make it for him. So, calling on his old pest-control buddies, The Hwice Group had its real start in the jet trade. Hwice Group jetters Their jet venture was initially very successful; they made their money back within a month with 400% profit. However they had to always have guards on hand as jet-fiends would always try to brake in and rob them. To try and alleviate this, they moved to the outskirts of the town and only made deliveries to dealers that licensed to buy and sell from them. They would always hire these dealers when they needed soldiers, and they always had people wanting to sell for them, so they quickly found themselves rich and brimming with muscle, so they began to outfit these men themselves and hire them out. The loses however were staggering; their first three months of soldiering had killed over 80% of the men they sent. After this Edward and the board of directors he set up began to hire former raiders and mercenaries to train their street-thugs to be effective at more than shaking down jet-heads. Results quickly became evident; with casulties down by 30% percent in the first two months and decreasing by five more every month after that. By the end of that year they had lost most of their soldiers but the ones that were left were hardened veterns of many shoot-outs and gang wars. Hwice and the board has kept it this way since it was a great way to keep overhead down. They still pay for the outfiting of the soldiers though, to maintain the quality of the men at their disposal and to ensure that no small time bangers try to make a move on them. Currently they are maintaining their hold on their section of northern topeka whilst trying to establish a foothold on the south side of the river. Certain other rumors also tell of masked death squads with the Hwice logo stenciled on them looking for Thomas White to make him and his crew account for all the losses they took. Currently The Hwice Group have been expanding recently, trying to keep a firm base on the south side of the river, but the various gangs and raiders have been making that difficult. they also have been ramping up production of jet and pyscho, possibly in preperation for a war, although this may have something to do with the recent arrival of the Dutchmen... Relations Thomas White: The Hwice Group has a bountry of five thousand Caps on his head, but even that is not enough to catch the robber-king Grass Dogs: Due to the chief banning trade with them, the Group really don't interact with these tribals. Iron Legs: The Group are on good terms with the Iron Legs and trades medical supplies sometimes. Caravaggio Family: While the situation is tense, the two groups aren't at war yet. Huns: The Hwice enjoy a relatively stable market in the Huns. Devils in Black Hats: The Group and the Devils get on quite well, as they are a large market for chems. The Saints: The group is neutral to them. Dust Swirl Union: The Group has trading rights with all tribes except the Drain Dwellers. The Dutchmen: The current relation between the two is unknown, but it is known the representitives from both have been seen at each base. The Hussars: While the Hussars hate anything to do with the Huns, they do trade with the Group. Category:Organization